The Supreme Court today directed the Centre to explain if the guidelines were strictly followed in allotting the coal blocks to private companies.

It turned down the Government’s plea that it should not go into the issue as the Public Accounts Committee, PAC is looking into it.

It granted eight weeks time to the Centre to file its response on the alleged irregularities in coal blocks allocation. A Bench of Justices R M Lodha and A R Dave said, the petition raised serious questions and requires explanation from the Government.

The Bench also made it clear that it is confining itself only to the aspect of guidelines formulated by the Centre for allocation of coal blocks.

The Court's order came while hearing a PIL filed by an advocate on the alleged coalgate scam.